Ben Kweller (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Ben Kweller
Type = Album
Artist = Ben Kweller


Released = September 19, 2006
Recorded = Los Angeles, CA
Genre = Indie rock
Length = 40:10
Label = ATO Records
Producer = Gil Norton
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:7sd3vw9ea92k link]
*Drowned in Sound rating-10|7 [http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/8018 link]
*Gigwise.com Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=21665 link]
*"HARP" (positive) [http://harpmagazine.com/reviews/cd_reviews/detail.cfm?article_id=4668 link]
*IGN rating-10|9.5 [http://music.ign.com/articles/733/733279p1.html link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/11571670/review/11617268/ben_kweller?source=album_reviews_rssfeed link]
*Pitchfork rating-10|5.5 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39186-ben-kweller link]
*This Is Fake DIY Rating|4|5 [http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/2938.html link]
*"URB" Rating|4|5 [http://www.urb.com/reviews/cd/feature.php?ReviewId=137 link]
*Yahoo! Music rating-10|8 [http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/060911/33/20nqv.html link]
Last album = "On My Way"
(2004)
This album = "Ben Kweller"
(2006)
Next album = "Changing Horses"
(2009)

"Ben Kweller" is the self-titled third album by Ben Kweller. It was released September 19, 2006 on ATO Records.

One Minute Pop Song

For the 9 weeks leading up to the release of the Album Ben Kweller previously took footage of himself and made an internet mini-show called "One Minute Pop Song." Each episode would consist of usually 2-6 minutes.

Topics of the videos were varied. Some of the topics were about a fan who sent in a cover version of a song, talking about laying down the tracks and playing all the instruments on the album, showing a tour of the studio, Ben Kweller rating himself on each instrument, telling a story about Neil Young, and talking about how he learned to play the drums from his father.

Recording process

On his Myspace website, Ben described the making of the album as "very exciting, emotional and challenging." He explained that since he played all the instruments on the album it "was a big change for me and it produced something really intimate and special. It's such a different way of working but if you can pull it off it makes a very cool and unique sound." He also described a song on the album, "A bonus for me, and you, is I think I might have written my best song while I was in the studio. It's called 'Thirteen'. It's very personal and almost hard for me to listen to."

Track listing

All songs and instruments by Ben Kweller.
#"Run" – 3:07
#"Nothing Happening" – 3:53
#"Sundress" – 4:06
#"I Gotta Move" – 3:10
#"Thirteen" – 4:17
#"Penny on the Train Track" – 4:28
#"I Don't Know Why" – 3:06
#"Magic" – 3:08
#"Red Eye" – 4:20
#"Until I Die" – 4:07
#"This Is War" – 2:25

Album chart positions

Credits

* Charles Attal – Management
* Jakub Blackman – Publicity
* Matt Boynton – Digital Editing
* Adrian Bushby – Mixing
* Brian Dawson – Live Sound Engineer
* John Dunne – Engineer
* Roger Greenawalt Demo – Engineer
* Sam Kersherbaum – Photography
* Ben Kweller – Art Direction, Design, Photography, Layout Design, Instrumentation
* Ray Lego – Photography, Cover Photo
* Steve Mazur – Engineer
* Michael McDonald – A&R
* Sarah McGoldrick – Design, Layout Design
* Gil Norton – Producer, Mixing, Pre-Production
* Michael Palmieri – Photography
* Steve Ralbovsky – A&R
* Brian Thom – Engineer
* Elizabeth Weinberg – Photography
* Ken Weinstein – Publicity
* Richard Woodcraft – Engineer